President Donald Trump said the United States would take control of Venezuela indefinitely after capturing its leader Nicolás Maduro.
The 79-year-old president told the New York Times during a nearly two-hour interview that he expected the U.S. to run the South American nation and extract oil from its vast reserves for years, and he said the interim government made up of former Maduro loyalists was so far “giving us everything that we feel is necessary.”
“Only time will tell,” Trump told the newspaper when asked how long his administration would demand direct oversight.
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump added. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
Administration officials said Wednesday, hours before the president's interview, that the U.S. would effectively control the sale of Venezuela's oil indefinitely, which drew a strong partisan reaction from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, but Trump offered little clarity when asked by the Times to provide a timeframe for that dynamic.
"Mr. Trump did not give a precise time range for how long the United States would remain Venezuela’s political overlord," the Times reported. "Would it be three months? Six months? A year? Longer?"
“I would say much longer,” the president replied.
The president claimed that the takeover was already making money for the U.S. by seizing oil that had been placed under sanctions, referring to the 30 million to 50 million barrels of heavy crude oil he announced Tuesday the U.S. would obtain, although he conceded it could take years to rebuild the country's oil infrastructure.
"The oil will take a while,” Trump said.
He also declined to say whether his administration's plans for Venezuela would require American troops on the ground.
“I wouldn’t want to tell you that,” he said, and he declined to say whether troops would be deployed to force out Russian and Chinese personnel already working in Venezuela. “I can’t tell you that. I really wouldn’t want to tell you that, but they’re treating us with great respect. As you know, we’re getting along very well with the administration that is there right now.”